Selçuk Bayraktar

Selçuk Bayraktar (born 7 October 1979) is a Turkish engineer and businessman. He is the chairman of the board and the chief technology officer of the Turkish technology company Baykar. He is also known as the architect of Turkey's first indigenous unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) Bayraktar TB2 and first unmanned fighter jet Bayraktar Kızılelma. Bayraktar is also the founding chairman of the Turkish Technology Team Foundation.
Early life and education
Originally from Trabzon, Bayraktar was born in 1979 in the Sarıyer district of Istanbul, the second child of Özdemir Bayraktar and Canan Bayraktar. His father Özdemir (1948–2021) established the Turkish aerospace firm Baykar in 1984. Selçuk began his education in Sarıyer Primary School, thereafter enrolling in Robert College from which he graduated in 1997. In that year, he began higher education in the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Istanbul Technical University. During his undergraduate education, he received a scholarship from the GRASP Laboratory at University of Pennsylvania, where he received a master's degree in 2004. His master's degree research involved a successful demonstration of air–ground coordination of UAVs in formation flight alongside territorial robot teams. This work attracted attention and he was offered a further scholarship by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Pursuing his studies under the supervision of George Pappas and Eric Feron, Bayraktar earned his second master's degree with his research in autonomous, aggressive maneuvering of unmanned helicopter systems.
Career
Following his education, he returned to Turkey in 2007 and become the chief technology officer of Baykar. Under his leadership, Baykar has developed Bayraktar UAVs, Turkey's first indigenous UAV project, including the Bayraktar Mini UAV, Bayraktar TB2, Bayraktar VTOL and Bayraktar Akıncı. These vehicles were used by Turkish security forces in counterterrorism operations against PKK and participated in conflicts such as the Syrian Civil War, the Second Libyan Civil War, the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine. As a result of the contributions of Bayraktar TB2s to repatriating Nagorno Karabakh from Armenia in 2021, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has awarded Mr. Bayraktar with the Karabakh Order. The following year, Mr. Bayraktar was awarded the Ukrainian Order of Merit by President Volodymyr Zelensky. The order was presented by the Ukrainian Head of Presidential Administration Andrii Yermak on 2 October 2022.
In March 2021, Bayraktar announced a new UAV model Bayraktar TB3, which is a MALE class STOL-designed aircraft , and an addendum to the company designated TB series UAV's after Bayraktar TB2. The new aircraft is planned to be deployed on Turkey's first amphibious assault ship TCG Anadolu. In April 2021, Bayraktar announced their target to conduct the maiden flight of Turkey's first domestically-made unmanned fighter jet in 2023. However, Bayraktar Kızılelma completed its first flight ahead of the expected date, on 14 December 2022. One other significant project that Bayraktar leads is Turkey's first flying car (manned eVTOL) project Cezeri. Cezeri demonstrated its first flight in September 2020 with hovering autonomously 10 meters above ground. The vehicle and the flight was widely covered in global media. Recently Bayraktar announced a new venture on space technologies with making public their ongoing initiatives on orbital transfer vehicles and satellite technologies.
Politics
He is seen as possible successor as leader of Ak Party and president Erdogan.
Philanthropy
Bayraktar supports the National Technology Initiative pursued by Turkey that aims to establish a local and indigenous high-technology environment. Therefore, in addition to his professional work, he holds the founding chairmanship of the Turkish Technology Team Foundation. The foundation aims to raise public awareness and educate talented youth to promote the necessary ecosystem for the national development of high technology in Turkey. It holds maker lab workshops at cities around the country which Bayraktar frequently attends. He is also chairman of the Teknofest annual aerospace and technology festival. It holds pre-funded technology competitions and exhibits technology enterprises that have been brought from around the world. With hosting more than 1.7 million visitors in 2019, the organization has become the most visited aerospace and technology festival. Bayraktar played a crucial role during the COVID-19 pandemic with leading major tech companies of Turkey to design and manufacture the nation's first ICU-type medical ventilation machine.
Personal life
He married Sümeyye Erdoğan, daughter of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in 2016 and has a daughter with her.
Awards
— He was awarded the Karabakh Order by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on 1 April 2021.
— He was awarded the 3rd class Order of Merit by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on 2 October 2022.
References
1979 births
Engineers from Istanbul
Robert College alumni
Living people
Selcuk Bayraktar
Istanbul Technical University alumni
University of Pennsylvania alumni
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
Johns Hopkins University alumni
21st-century Turkish engineers
Businesspeople from Istanbul
Turkish electronics engineers